SPRING 2015
The Community Foundation Serving Greeley and Weld
County promotes philanthropy to build resources, develops
partnerships, and provides leadership that will be of lasting
benefit to our communities.
Project Illumination:
A Collaborative Partnership
Did you know that studies consistently demonstrate that people with
intellectual disabilities are sexually victimized more often than others who
do not have a disability? The Arc of Weld County’s mission is protect the
human rights of the intellectually and developmentally challenged through
advocacy and support services and with the $8,000 grant they were awarded by the Community Foundation in 2014, they did just that through
Project Illumination.
Project Illumination is a collaboration between The Arc of Weld County, SAVA
(Sexual Assault Victims Advocate Center) and Envision, funded by the Howard E.
Smith Endowment Fund through the Community Foundation. The goal of the
collaboration is to bring awareness to issues regarding the abuse and exploitation
of adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. In late 2014, all of the
agencies came together to provide disabled adults with a 12-week training course
surrounding sexual violence, exploitation and harassment.
"I want to again thank the Community Foundation for their support of Project
Illumination. It is difficult enough having a disability for your whole life and then
to compound that with being exploited and/or abused is tragic. Project
Illumination allows people with disabilities to learn new skills, advocate for
themselves so that they will never be exploited or abused again,” said Larry
McDermott, Executive Director for The Arc of Weld County.
2014 Project Illumination graduates
At the culmination of the course, participants were each given a binder full of the
information they learned as well as community and emergency resources for them
to refer back to. The collaborative agencies also hosted a graduation ceremony for
the participants in which they were given a certificate of completion and were also
given the opportunity to express how the course impacted them.
...continued on page 2
From the Desk of Rand E Morgan
Leaving a
Legacy
I
was lying in a hammock looking
up into the sky a few days after
my father’s funeral. I was missing
him and was reflecting on his life.
It was one of those perfectly still
mornings, not a whiff of wind.
Slightly cool, sunny, blue and a
cloudless sky. Ideal.
Not long after settling in and
beginning to go through some fond
memories of my Dad, an airplane
high in the sky came into view. It
caught my attention, and I followed
it as it crossed overhead. As it flew
past the tree line and I could see it
no longer, I noticed the vapor trail
it had left in its wake. It was a very
tight, clearly defined white line
contrasted by the deep blue on
either side. As the seconds passed
from the time the plane had been in
sight, that tight line began to
broaden, and the line became less
defined, gradually morphing into a
thin white cloud. It eventually
became opaque and after a few
minutes, not only had the plane
disappeared from sight, the contrail
had evaporated entirely as well.
It occurred to me at the time that it
was a metaphor for our lives. We
are here, alive, visible.
...continued on page 2
Donor Profile: Lee & Carol Shropshire
In late 2014, Lee and Carol Shropshire established a fund in the form of a real estate donation with the Community
Foundation. The donor-advised fund aims to assist geology majors at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), faithbased organizations, and the Wild Animal Sanctuary.
With values instilled in them by their parents, Lee’s and Carol’s personal and
professional lives have been molded by education and service to others. The
Shropshires have deep roots in Weld County. In 1965, they both ventured
from Boulder to Greeley in Lee’s ’29 Ford Model A. Lee came to teach at
Colorado State College, now known as the University of Northern Colorado.
After a 35-year career, Lee retired from UNC where he was a professor of
geology. Carol, a nurse and educator, retired in 1995, after a fulfilling career
of service at Northern Colorado Medical Center.
Lee first heard about The Community Foundation Serving Greeley and
Weld County through his friend, Dick Bond. Dick was the first executive
director of the Community Foundation and had a significant impact on the
organization’s growth and success. Dick and his wife Reva also have a
donor-advised fund with the Community Foundation.
The Shropshires are a wonderful example of how you can turn passion into a
legacy through the Community Foundation. They hope to pass their legacy
down to their two children, Steven and Daniel, and their three grandchildren.
Lee and Carol Shropshire
Through philanthropic services, strategic investments and community leadership, the Community Foundation helps people support the causes they care about, now and for generations to come.
Project Illumination ...continued
from page 1
Due to the success and impact of Project
Illumination in 2014, The Arc of Weld
County and partnering agencies are continuing the program with their April
2015 training, Creating Safe & Healthy
Relationships: Abuse & Neglect Prevention.
For more information regarding upcoming trainings please email Kim Crook at
[email protected].
Leaving a Legacy ...continued from page 1
After we’re gone, those who had known us and who had physically seen us remember us clearly. Our children remember us, maybe grandchildren, possibly
a great-grandchild might have a vague memory of us. But as the generations
come and then pass, eventually, the memory of our lives fade away as did the
vapor trail above from my hammock view.
I enjoy backpacking and being in wilderness areas where the slogan often heard
is, “Leave No Trace.” The idea is to keep the area as pristine and as beautiful as
it was when we arrived at the place – such that no one can tell one has ever
been there. But might it be possible in some situations that we could actually
leave a place better than we found it?
KNOW
IN 2014, 2 MILLION DOLLARS WERE
GIVEN BY THE COMMUNITY
FOUNDATION IN THE FORM OF
GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS & TO
CHARITABLE PROGRAMS.
Clearly, not all of us have the ability to create such a lasting impact. But for
those who can, I would encourage you to consider it. For those of us who might
have more limited resources, we do have talents, abilities, experiences and relationships. Invest in them. In ways large and small, we can all make a difference.
We can leave this place better than we found it.
DID
YOU
I’ve observed that very idea is one of the beauties of Community Foundations.
We are blessed to have donors who leave legacies that will outlive them, and
their children and grandchildren. In fact, multiple generations from now, their
gifts will still be impacting lives. The wake left from their lives will be visible,
and they will still be making a difference and improving life in our communities.
A gift shared with countless generations to follow is a gift indeed.
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Leadership In Action:
2015 CommUnity Workshop Series
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
In January, the Community Foundation kicked off their sixth annual
CommUnity Series Workshops
CommUnity Series. The free series aims to provide local nonprofit staff and
board members with informative workshops. Every session features a
• Identifying–Measuring–Reporting Outdynamic and knowledgeable presenter.
comes: “Moving the Needle”
The first workshop featured Nancy D’Albergaria
who presented to more than 40 nonprofit
attendees about Board Basics 101 which
covered the critical aspects of serving on a nonprofit board of directors.
Presenter Amanda Miller
Presented by Randy Watkins, Anton
Collins Mitchell LLP
April 21, 11 am– 1 pm
• Successful Strategies for Grant Relationships – Making a good first (and secIn February, Zak Barron, Regional Develop- ond!) impression on Foundation funders
ment Director with Constant Contact, was the Presented by Cynthia Evans, former
featured professional who educated more than President of the UNC Foundation
50 participants on how to Build Your Marketing & former COO of the New Century
Toolkit. Zak touched on the do’s and don’ts of Energies Foundation & Judy Knapp,
traditional marketing as well as best practices for former President of The Community
Foundation Serving Greeley and Weld
County
social media marketing.
Rounding out the first quarter was
Amanda Miller, Owner of The Place
Setting Company: Events and Consulting.
Through her company, Amanda works
with small businesses and organizations on
community programs, business development and fundraising events, to name a
few. In March, she educated more than 30
nonprofit attendees on strategies for nonprofit events, from conceptualization to
logistical considerations, and gave an overview about implementing event-based
fundraising for the nonprofit arena.
Zak Barron, of Constant
Contact, made a great point to
invest in what you already have
and grow it from there. After
the workshop, our team sat
down and re-vamped our
marketing efforts.
-Elise Kapitancek
RISE, AmeriCorps VISTA
May 19, 11 am– 1 pm
• Planned Giving for Nonprofits
Presented by Alexis Owen, Director of
Philanthropic Services & Bill Schmidt,
Senior Trust Officer, First Western
Trust Bank
June 16, 11 am– 1 pm
If you’re interested in attending an upcoming session or for more information,
please contact Erin Johnson at
970-304-9970 or [email protected].
Community Connections
Thank you to Mickie,
Counselor from Northridge
High School, for posting a
picture of her daughter
on the Northridge High
School’s College & Career
Center Facebook page!
A thank you letter from a fourth grade student from
University Schools. Their class received a Teacher MiniGrant from the Littler Youth Fund and spent the day at
Young AmeriTowne where students learned about business,
economics, supply and demand, as well as free-enterprise.
With the grant, all 120 fourth grade students were able to
attend. Please visit our web site for the upcoming Teacher
Mini-Grant guidelines and application.
Sophie was reminding all
Northridge students to get
their Community
Foundation scholarship applications submitted before the
deadline.
The Community Foundation
had a recorded-breaking
number of scholarship
applications. More than 200!
Nonprofit Org.
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